Leyland
(draft article for BL following on from Nuffield, but incorporating truck operations as cross ref to truck brands in Heavy haulage section of this wikia) British Leyland was a vehicle manufacturing company formed in the United Kingdom in 1968 as British Leyland Motor Corporation Ltd (BLMC). It was partly nationalised in 1975 with the government creating a new holding company called British Leyland Ltd which became BL Ltd (later BL plc) in 1978. It incorporated much of the British owned motor vehicle industry, and held 40% of the UK car market, with roots going back to 1895. The history of the company is complex for full article on British Leyland see link below to Wikipedia article History (abridged) The British Motor Corporation (BMC) was a UK vehicle company, formed by the merger of the Austin Motor Company and the Nuffield Organisation (parent of the Morris car company, MG, Riley and Wolseley) in 1952. The during the early 1960's British Motor Corporation (BMC) was suffering a dramatic drop in its share of the home market, and in 1966 it succumbed to the pressures, and along with Pressed Steel, the car body manufacturer, merged with Jaguar Cars to form British Motor Holdings (BMH) Ltd. BLMC was created in 1968 by the merger of British Motor Holdings (BMH) and Leyland Motor Corporation (LMC) ltd, encouraged by Tony Benn as chair of the Industrial Reorganisation Committee created by the Wilson Labour Government (1964–1970). At the time, LMC was a successful manufacturer, while BMH was perilously close to collapse. Leyland Motors Limited was a British vehicle manufacturer of lorries and buses. It gave its name to the British Leyland Motor Corporation formed when it merged with British Motor Holdings, later to become British Leyland after effectively becoming nationalized. British Leyland later changed its name to simply BL then in 1986 Rover Group. The rover group being broken up in the 1990's Leyland Agricultural, Construction & Heavy trucks Acquisitions *1952 The Nuffield Organisation and Austin merge to form the British Motor Corporation (BMC), so that the Nuffield Organisation's tractors became part of BMC. *1955: Scammell Lorries Ltd - military and specialist lorry manufacturer *1962 Leyland Motors acquired ACV, the renamed AEC (Associated Equipment Company) company. *1981 Alvis divison sold to United Scientific Holdings and Alvis plc formed,in 2002 Alvis merged with part of Vickers Defence Systems to form Alvis Vickers which was purchased by BAE Systems in 2004 *1982 Leyland Tractors sold to Marshall Tractors part of the Nickerson group, tractor production at Bathgate assembly plant ends Leyland Divisions Sir Don Ryder was asked to undertake an enquiry into the position of the company, and his report, The Ryder Report, was presented to the government in April 1975. Following the report's recommendations, the organisation was drastically restructured and the Labour Government (1974–1979) took control by creating a new holding company British Leyland Limited (BL) of which the government was the major shareholder. The company was now organised into the following four divisions # Leyland Cars (later BL Cars) – the largest car manufacturer in the UK, employing some 128,000 people at 36 locations, and with a production capacity of one million vehicles per year. # Leyland Truck and Bus – the largest commercial and passenger vehicle manufacturer in the UK, employing 31,000 people at 12 locations, producing 38,000 trucks, 8,000 buses (including a joint venture with the National Bus Company) and 19,000 tractors per year # Leyland Special Products – the miscellaneous collection of other acquired businesses, itself structured into five sub-divisions: * Construction Equipment – Aveling-Barford (Dump Trucks), Aveling-Marshall (Rollers), Barfords of Belton and Goodwin-Barsby (Crushers) * Refrigeration – Prestcold * Materials Handling – Coventry Climax (incorporating Climax Trucks, Climax Conveyancer and Climax Shawloader) * Military Vehicles – Alvis and Self-Changing Gears * Print – Nuffield Press (which printed the company's publications) and Lyne & Son) #Leyland International – responsible for the export of cars, trucks and buses, and responsible for manufacturing plants in Africa, India and Australia, employing 18,000 people Leyland Engines For full details see Leyland engines Factories (selected list, for full details see Wikipedia article on British Leyland;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Leyland *Alcester, Warwickshire. Former Maudslay plant, latterly making AEC dump trucks. Sold in early 1970s. *Basingstoke, Hampshire. Former Thornycroft plant, latterly a specialist heavy truck plant. Closed in 1969. *Bathgate, West Lothian. A new plant opened by BMC in 1961 to manufacture light trucks and tractors. Tractor assembly ended in 1982, truck assembly in 1985, and the plant closed in 1986 *Southall, London. Former AEC bus and truck plant. Closed 1979. *Watford, Hertfordshire. Former Scammell plant building specialist heavy trucks. Closed 1988. Leyland Tractor Models (these were essentially Nuffields with cabs and new tin work and colour scheme at first) * 154 - 25 hp * 253 - 47 hp * 344 - 55 hp * 384 - 70 hp 1970s New Engines - Leyland 4/98 & 6/98 introduced and tractors re numbered.Tractor & Machinery Magazine December 2005 * 154 - as before * 245 - (253) * 255 - (344) * 270 - (344) * 285 - new 85 hp model 6-cylinder engine. * 2100 - new 100 hp model (discontinued 1979) * 485 - 85 hp 4wd built by County (discontinued 1979) * 4100 - 100 hp 4wd built by County (discontinued 1979) * (only about 100 county built 485 & 4100 models made) 1976 -Safety cab by Victor now standard * 270 1978 -Synchro range introduced *245 *262 *462- 4wd Carraro axel *272 * 285 synchro 10 speed replacrd by 282 turbo *472- 4wd Carraro axel 1979 *154 ? -Turbo charged models launched *282 - became 802 under Marshall *482 1980 -revised range now fitted with Sekura - Explore cab 1982 * Sold to Marshalls Tractors of Gainsborough, production moved from Bathgate, Glasgow. * Marshall 302 (sold as kit to Turkey, then bought as Nickerson Turfmaster by Carlisle Council) One off model now preserved & painted up in Marshall colours. Seen at Newby Hall Vintage show 2008. 1985 Marshalls goes bust A dealer buys up stock and builds some as XXXX to order. See Also *AEC *Alvis *Austin *Aveling-Barford *Aveling Marshall *BMC *Coventry Climax *Goodwin-Barsby *Leyland *Leyland Truck *Leyland (engines) *Marshall *Nuffield *Scammell *Thornycroft *http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Leyland *http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leyland_Motors_Ltd *http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Associated_Equipment_Company Reference *Wikipedia *Old Glory Magazine (Historic vehicles) *Classic Tractor Magazine *Tractor & Machinery Magazine (14/3) Category:Companies Category:Companies of the United Kingdom Category:Defunct companies Category:Tractors Category:Trucks Category:Tractor manufacturers Category:Truck manufacturers Category:Construction plant manufacturers Category:Leyland Tractors Category:Leyland Trucks